How Shopify Can Aid Startups

The e-commerce industry is one of the fastest growing in the world. Yahoo Small Business reports that in 2010 the size of online space in the US alone was 167 billion. In 2018 it is predicted to reach 490 billion. The potential to generate good revenue with minimal overheads is why millions of entrepreneurs have set up their business in the digital realm. Startups want to get their businesses up and running as fast and as efficiently as possible. Shopify’s biggest asset for new users is that it is designed for those without e-commerce experience. E-commerce Guide wrote in their review of the platform that it is “easy to grasp right from the get-go”. After signing up the new e-commerce owner is taken through the whole process with simple to follow guide.

The design and interface of an e-commerce store is crucial to its success. All successful e-commerce sites will not only sell a great product or service but also have an interface that is specifically designed for their target market. Most e-commerce interfaces will replicate the design scheme of a physical store that sells the same type of products. Shopify has over 100 optimised store designs that make the need for personal designs skills or hiring an outside designer, redundant. Another aspect of the platform that makes it “hassle free” is that it has its own web hosting service. This allows the focus of the site owner to be purely in the business, and not be worried about the technical aspects of running an e-commerce store.

In order for an e-commerce store to be successful, it has to develop a strong social media platform. Shopify comes with Facebook and Pinterest modules that allow clients to sell directly on the social media sites. To understand how important that is, Shopify state that two-thirds of social media visits to their platforms are from Facebook, and 85% of all orders from social media are also from Facebook. The fact that Shopify already comes with built-in social media modules is a huge aid for new startups.

Shopify is just as easy to run as it is to setup and design. While the platform is integrated with PayPal, it also has its own dedicated payment service that is automatically ready to accept all major cards as soon as the site is ready. Shopify Payments has several benefits that include setting the card rate, tracking the pending payout balance and payout schedule, and exemption from Shopify’s subscription transaction fees. For those who are new to the business, Shopify reduces the chances of any financial errors occurring, particularly in the opening months.

It is for these reasons above that Shopify has 11.6% of the market share. The platform is a huge aid to those looking to start their own e-commerce store. The main business of a successful e-commerce platform is selling a good product, and Shopify streamlines the store’s administration tasks to allow sellers to focus on building a successful and profitable e-commerce store.